Radio, Popular Song & Spoken Word

National Photo Co. *[National Woman's Party activists watch Alice Paul sew a star onto the NWP Ratification Flag, representing another state's ratification of the 19th Amendment]*. [1919-20]. Records of the National Woman's Party. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

The Recorded Sound Section has a number of recordings related to women's suffrage that can be discovered through both the Library of Congress Online Catalog and through the Recorded Sound Section's catalog called SONIC (see box below for more information). The sound recordings presented below include radio broadcasts and commercial recordings. Where possible, recordings in this list have been linked to full bibliographic information in the Library's online catalog. A few of the musical recordings are available through the National Jukebox and can be streamed online.

Sound ONline Iventory Catalog - SONIC

SONIC does not have a permanent linking feature for individual catalog records, and so you will have to search for the recording in SONIC using either the call number or the title of the recording in order to see its full record. Recordings listed here can be listened to in the Recorded Sound Research Center.

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Radio Broadcasts | Popular Song Recordings | Spoken Word Recordings

Radio Broadcasts

The Women Who Won (1960)
A 30-minute radio documentary from WEEI in Boston about the history of women's suffrage in the United States, accompanied by five tape reels of the interviews with women who participated in the struggle to win the right to vote that were used to create the documentary.
Mabel Vernon, Suffragist (1983)
Call Number: RYA 4044
This recording from the Pacifica Radio Archive presents an interview with suffragist Mabel Vernon on her ninety-first birthday. She talks about her experiences and work, from the time she began organizing with the National Women's Party and continued until 1930 as she worked for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Women in the Making of America (1939)
Call Number: RWA 3499 B1-2
A series of dramas of American women who helped shape America. This episode is about Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Angelina Grimsky. More information available in SONIC.
Women in the Making of America (1939)
Call Number: RWA 3499 B3-4
A series of dramas of American women who helped shape America. This episode is about women and education. More information available in SONIC.
Women in the Making of America (1939)
Call Number: RWA 3533 A1-2
A series of dramas of American women who helped shape America. This episode tells the story of Carrie Chapman Catt. More information available in SONIC.
Women in the Making of America (1939)
Call Number: RWA 3499 A3-4
A series of dramas of American women who helped shape America. This episode is about Ann Hutchinson and Lucretia Mott. Ruth Ottoway of the National Council of Women comments. More information available in SONIC.
Women and Politics (1940)
Call Number: RWB 5387 B2-3
A discussion on "Twenty years of women's suffrage" by Mrs Henry Hayes, Representative Carolyn O'Day, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, and Mrs Preston Davies, broadcast on NBC. More information available in SONIC.
Address by Carrie Chapman Catt (1935)
Call Number: RWC 911 A4
Mrs. Catt of the League of Women Voters speaks on the subject, "What will neutrality do for us?" Broadcast on NBC. More information available in SONIC.
Echoes of History
Call Number: RWA 4692 A2
A reenactment of the speech "Universal Suffrage," delivered by Elizabeth Cady Stanton before the judiciary committee of the New York legislature in 1867, broadcast on NBC. More information available in SONIC.
Your Share in a Lasting Peace (1944)
Call Number: RWA 6399 B2
A program celebrating the 85th birthday of suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt. Sharing the microphone with Mrs. Catt are Helen Hayes and Eleanor Roosevelt. Broadcast on NBC. More information available in SONIC.
"Mr. Dooley's Address to the Suffragists" (1914)
A Victor spoken word recording of the character Mr. Dooley, a fictional Irish-American bartender created by journalist Finley Peter Dunne, performed by Steve Porter. Mr. Dooley appeared in Dunne's column in a Chicago newspaper, commenting on political and social affairs. Available online from the National Jukebox.
Schultz on Woman's Suffrage
Call Number: Victor 16294
A commercial Victor recording of Frank Kennedy's comical predictions of a future when women would be elected to office. Schultz was a fictional character created by Frank Kennedy, who was recorded dozens of times by early record companies. More information available in SONIC.

Harris & Ewing. *[MRS. CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT] WITH FLAGS OF 22 NATIONS.* 1917. Harris & Ewing Collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Popular Song Recordings

Cavalcade of America (1947)
Call Number: RWB 5110 A1-2
A historical dramatization about U.S. suffragettes Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt, broadcast on NBC. More information available in SONIC.
Songs of the Suffragettes [1958]
Songs of the suffrage movement sung by Elizabeth Knight.
"Since My Margaret Became a Suffragette" (1912)
An early Victor recording performed by Maurice Burkhardt. Available online from the National Jukebox.
"Your Mother's Gone Away to Join the Army" (1913)
An early Victor recording performed by Billy Murray, one of the most popular singers of the early 20th Century. Available online from the National Jukebox.
"Fall in Line, or Suffrage March" (1914)
An instrumental piece written by Zena S. Hawn and performed by the Victor Military Band, this march was the B-side to "Mr. Dooley's Address." Available online from the National Jukebox.
Hurrah for Woman Suffrage! Songs from the American Woman Suffrage Movement, 1848-1920 (1995)
Call Number: ICD 90937
Songs of the Women's Suffrage movement performed by the Homespun Singers, produced by Miriam Reed Productions. (Also in SONIC, RYF 3942)

Harris & Ewing. *WOMAN SUFFRAGE. SUFFRAGETTES AT CAPITOL*. 1914. Harris & Ewing Collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Spoken Word Recordings

Great American Women's Speeches (1973)
Suffragists' words are given life by readings from actors in this Caedmon recording.
Side by Side: Reenactments of Scenes from Women's History, 1848 to 1920 [1978]
Call Number: Galaxia 002
Famous speeches by women's rights advocates on suffrage and other topics are reenacted in this Galaxia recording.

Women's Suffrage in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Collections

Recorded Sound & Audio: Ask a Librarian

Radio, Popular Song & Spoken Word

Sound ONline Iventory Catalog - SONIC

Radio Broadcasts

Popular Song Recordings

Spoken Word Recordings